Australian Rum Distillers List

January 25, 2014

Rum has a very long history in the white experience of Australia, going back to the very start of the colony in 1788.

For that we can thank the Royal Navy whose ships brought the first convicts, soldiers and administrators here.

The Navy rum ration is well known, and it wasn’t long before they were brewing their own here- the first legal distillery opening in Sydney in 1824, however illegal distilling most likely dates from around 1804 and one of the reasons for the crackdown by Gov. Bligh was to get rid of the illicit stills.

For an in-depth academic look at drinking consumption, importing of spirits and other details of the new colony please see this research paper (opens a PDF – scroll forward to about page 20 onwards).

Please see more info about rum below and here’s an article on why I think it’s the next big thing in Australia spirits scene.

Updated 13 August 2023

Distillery List

  1. 100 Souls Distillery, New South Wales
  2. Adelaide Hills Distillery, South Australia
  3. Aisling Distillery, New South Wales
  4. Archie Rose, New South Wales
  5. Beenleigh Artistan Distillery, Brisbane, Queensland
  6. Baker Williams Distillery, New South Wales
  7. Black Gate Distillery, Mendooran, New South Wales
  8. Blue Still, Young, New South Wales
  9. Boatrocker Brewer, Melbourne Victoria
  10. Brix Distillers, Sydney New South Wales
  11. Bundaberg Distilling Company Queensland
  12. Bunker Hill Distillery, New South Wales
  13. Castle Glen Australia
  14. Central Coast Distilling Co, New South Wales  – new!
  15. Capricorn Distilling Gin, Queensland
  16. Defiance Distillery, New South Wales
  17. Dunbavan Distilling Co, Queensland   
  18. Far North Queensland Rum Company, Queensland
  19. Fremantle Spirits Company, Western Australia
  20. FNQ Spirits, Queensland
  21. FNQ Rum Co, Queensland
  22. Glengowrie Distillery, New South Wales
  23. Golden Lion Distillery, New South Wales
  24. Great Northern Distillery, Western Australia
  25. Holey Dollar, Sydney New South Wales
  26. Hoochery Rum, The Kimberley, Western Australia
  27. Husk Distillery, New South Wales
  28. Illegal Tender Rum co. Western Australia
  29. Inner Circle Rum, Queensland
  30. Joadja Distillery, New South Wales
  31. Jimmy Rum, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
  32. Kalki Moon, Bundaberg, Queensland
  33. Killik Distillery, Victoria
  34. Karu Distillery, Grosevale NSW
  35. Killlik Distillery, Melbourne, Victoria
  36. Kimberley Rum Company, Western Australia (also known as Canefire Distllery)
  37. Lark Distillery, Hobart, Tasmania
  38. Lord Byron Distillery, Byron Bay, New South Wales
  39. Mad Monkey Distillery, Adelaide, South Australia
  40. Madira Spirits, Sydney, New South Wales
  41. Magpie Distilling, Hunter Valley, New South Wales
  42. Maria River Distillery, Mid North Coast, New South Wales
  43. Milton Rum Distillery, Brisbane Queensland
  44. Mount Uncle Distillery, North Queensland
  45. Mulligan’s Rum, South Australia
  46. Natural Distilling Company, Gippsland, Victoria
  47. New Norfolk Distillery, New Norfolk Tasmania
  48. Nil Desperandum, Queensland – new!
  49. Newcastle Distillery, New South Wales
  50. Paradise Rum, Queensland
  51. Riverbourne Distillery Captains Flat, New South Wales
  52. Rebellion Rum Co. Gold Coast qLD, new! 
  53. Robbers Dog Distillery, Mt Pleasant,  South Australia
  54. Sarina Sugar Shed, Sarina, Queensland
  55. Stone Pine,  Bathurst, New South Wales
  56. Saleyards Distillery, Capricorn Spiced Rum, Allenstown, Queensland
  57. Soltera Rum, New South Wales
  58. Solander Rum Company, New South Wales
  59. South Sea Rum, Western Australia
  60. Swenson’s Rum Distillery, Queensland – new!
  61. Tin Shed Distillery, South Australia
  62. The Aisling Distillery, Riverina
  63. The Siding Gerringong, New South Wales
  64. The Canberra Distillery, ACT
  65. Waterview, Bundaberg, Queensland
  66. Wild River Mountain Distillery, Queensland
  67. Winding Road Distillery, New South Wales
  68. WISH Distillery, North Queensland
  69. Yack Creek Distillery, Yackandandah, New South Wales

 

More Rum in Australia According to Wikipedia:

“The value of rum was based upon the lack of coinage among the population of the colony, and due to the drink’s ability to allow its consumer to temporarily forget about the lack of creature comforts available in the new colony. The value of rum was such that convict settlers could be induced to work the lands owned by officers of the New South Wales Corps. Due to rum’s popularity among the settlers, the colony gained a reputation for drunkenness, though their alcohol consumption was less than levels commonly consumed in England at the time.[27]

Australia was so far away from England that the convict colony, established in 1788, faced severe food shortages, compounded by poor conditions for growing crops and the shortage of livestock. Eventually it was realized that it might be cheaper for India, instead of England, to supply the settlement of Sydney. By 1817, two out of every three ships which left Sydney, went to Java or India, and cargoes from Bengal fed and equipped the colony. Casks of Bengal Rum (which was reputed to be stronger than Jamaican Rum, and not so sweet) were brought back in the depths of nearly every ship from India although taken to shore clandestinely, to the dismay of the governors. Englishmen living in India grew wealthy through sending ships to Sydney “laden half with rice and half with bad spirits.”

The sale of the Rum caused our very first constitutional crisis when the troops of the garrison (whose officers were making a nice earner trafficking imported rum (which was used a currency in the early colony) overthrew the Governor in 1808, who was none other than William Bligh of the Mutiny of the Bounty fame. The troops were also known as the Rum Corps. You can read the full story here.

But we’ve come a long was since then, and Australia produces several fine and varied Rums, with most coming from Queensland which has long produced world class sugar cane.

Generally speaking the style is quite distinctive and nothing like the Rums you may have had from the Caribbean. Many of the Rum producers have history that goes back over 100 years. For the most part you’ll find they produce dark Rums, but Beenleigh make a very fine white version.

In recent years, there is a range of premium and limited edition releases from companies like Bundaberg to appeal to a more discerning drinker.

For an overview of the main styles of rum, check out my article here.

Note, availability of stock will vary from each distillery and some of these listed are in development at time of publishing.